Fans of Teenage Engineering and their designs might be interested in their new CM-15 microphone seen in the photo above. Is it expensive? Yes. Is it cool and well designed? Also yes.
These two links from Uncrate and design-milk have more details on it. Audiophiles will especially want to take a look.
I just love all the things they make, and wish I were musical enough to really appreciate them.
Comments Off on The latest and greatest from Teenage Engineering: the CM-15 mic
Tagged audio, cool, design, designmilk, microphone, teenageengineering, uncrate
I’ve written about Karl Lagerfeld often on this blog. In the past I found much to admire about him: his drive, his levels of energy, his capability to go in different directions, his ability to change mentally and physically. He was also quite the wit, as can be seen here and here, and I admired that too.
Not everyone feels this way, however. The Guardian gives you a sense of that here. The New York Times calls Lagerfeld a “firehose of offense”, and they are not wrong. His disparaging remarks about any woman he considered “fat” are infamous. Over at hyperallergic they open their own firehose of criticism back at Karl. Not my approach, but again, some (not all) of what they related is true.
Despite all that, Lagerfeld still has allies. Like Anna Wintour, a friend who thought highly of him. It’s not a fluke he was the focus of the recent Met Gala, run by Wintour. And anyone who cares for fashion and design that flipped through this retrospective the Tines did of his work at Chanel, Fendi, H&M would agree just how influential and powerful his work was.
So what to do with difficult people? I often think the best way to think and talk about them is like this. Instead of saying “I admire Mr/Ms X”, I try to say, “There are things I admire about Mr/Ms X” or “I admire anyone who can do Y”. That is the case when it comes to me and Karl Lagerfeld now. There are things I admire about Lagerfeld. And I admire anyone who can do some of the things he achieved.
Like any famous person, Karl Lagerfeld is not my friend, my foe, or even a member of my family. I don’t have to accept or reject him unconditionally. You don’t have to either.
P.S. All this was driven by the recent Met Gala. Here’s more from the New York Times on this year’s event, which was based around Lagerfeld. Also here’s a look back at the Met Gala’s red carpet shenanigans from the last decade.
Besides being a famous fashion designer, he is also well known for the Karl Lagerfeld diet. You can read more about that here and here and here and here.
I am not sure how practical they are, but these pieces designed to look like blind contour drawings are cool. Also cool is this simple but smart furniture, shown below:
Finally, how cool is this: people are using these lego construction blocks to build homes…
I recommend you click on all the link and see a lot more.
Comments Off on I thought these three designs were very cool
Tagged decor, design, designmilk
I love this: Ikea and Marimekko have teamed up to create a collection of home goods at affordable prices that are also beautiful. They range in prices from this low cost bag at $2:
To this lovely side table with a tray for $79:
They even have clothing, like this robe for $40:
Amazing. Over at Chatelaine they have their 15 favorite from The Ikea Marimekko Bastua Collection. The three seen here were plucked from their list. Go to Chatelaine for more. Go check it out.
Yeah, the Sova Lounge chair is ergonomic and comfortable, but it’s also made from sustainably sourced wood. Oh it’s also gorgeous.
At some point most if not all the things we buy will be made from sustainably sourced material. As it should be. Here’s to more things like the Sova.
For more on this beautiful and smart chair, head over to Yanko Design for more.
If you love the work of Philippe Starck as much as I, then I recommend you head over to Uncreate and search on his name (or click here).It turns out he’s still doing cool stuff. Not surprising.
For example, this is cool: B&B Italia x Philippe Starck Outdoor Sofa. It reminds me of the great furniture he did for hotels like the Royalton in the 80s:
And this LaCie Blade Runner Hard Drive reminded me of how at the names of his older furniture often were borrowed from Philip K. Dick novels:
Love it! I wish I could find one of those hard drives. They look awesome.
Speaking of awesome looking, check out this, the Aeklys by Starck Payment Ring:
Finally these Phillippe Starck Log Knives are very gift worthy:
Nice to see one of my favorite designers is still creative, and creative in many different ways.
Here’s a good piece on how the ubiquitous IKEA Råskog trolley (seen above) has become famous as the TBR (to be read) cart on social media. Move over bedside table: IKEA is bringing on competition.
That trolley is old and good. What’s new and good from IKEA is the VINDSTYRKA smart sensor (seen below) which monitors air quality inside your home:
It’s interesting that IKEA continue to make forays into home devices that are not necessarily furniture (e.g., home speakers). I for one am here for that.
Comments Off on Two good pieces on two good pieces from IKEA
Tagged airquality, Books, decor, design, Ikea, socialmedia, storage, yankodesign
Over at Yanko Design are 10 of the cabins they chose as the best for 2022. Best for 2022, and 2023…really any year you want to get out of town and into some place nice and rustic.
Whatever the season, wherever the location, these places are the kind of places most people would like to spend some time. I’m more of a city person, but I would be happy to hang out in any of those 10 cabins.
what you see in this post is just two of the places they write about. To see more on these top 10, click here.
When I think of minimalist decor, I often think of rooms like this:
It’s beautiful, but it has a show room quality to me. It looks like a room one passes through, instead of lives in.
So I was pleased that in this list of top 10 minimalist projects for 2022 from Design-Milk.com, there were also rooms like this one:
And an addition like this one:
Indeed there were a number of projects that still had the qualities I associate with minimalism but also felt like places you would want to reside in, instead of look at and admire. It showed me that you can still aspire to a more pared back living space, but still have it livable.
To see the entire list, click here. Minimalism can be good!
If you feel stuck, just a small change in your environment can make a difference in freeing you up mentally. Changing your desktop wallpaper is just such a change.
If you agree, I recommend you go to Design Milk and see what they have to offer in wallpapers. Each month they have a designer publish a new image for you to download and out upon your background. Needless to say, they are very well done.
Maybe new wallpaper won’t inspire you to do great things in 2023. But it can’t hurt! Give it a shot.
I suspect that living in smaller and smaller spaces is going to be the rule rather than the exception, as more people move to expensive cities. I think if that’s true, we need to think about how such spaces should be furnished.
Traditional furniture assumes a certain amount of room to move about. Those assumptions need to be challenged.
For example, this piece envisions a massive piece of furniture that combines a bed, storage and seating area into one (see below):
![](https://design-milk.com/images/2022/10/Gradient-Space-Apartment-WOON-Chung-Yen-1.jpg")
Or take this piece, which imagines everything within reach (see below):
I know, it’s not for everyone. But it may be the way things are going for many urban dwellers.
As I get older I get more attuned to this way of thinking: Why I Don’t Want a Bigger Home – Benefits of Small Space Living. Maybe in the near future we will all have smaller personal spaces and larger and more varied public spaces. If so, we will need different furnishings to accommodate this.
P.S. The links have many more images showing how these pieces of furniture look. Worth checking out.
I love the site Yanko Design. They highlight some amazing designs, especially when it comes to furniture. Here’s some of the ones I’ve been collecting from them that I thought were really good.
First up, I thought this was a cool chair. It reminds me of the old telephone tables people used to one have.
Something that would go really well with it is this very cool coffee table.
If you want to get something really amazing for your walls, I would suggest this beautiful but very high end (Raf Simons) shaker furnishing. Or this thing: an odd device to help you relax. It’s hard to describe: you really have to go to the piece.
I love that crazy but beautiful shelving you see above. It’s incredibly modular, too. Over at Yanko Design they have a variety of configurations showing what you can do with it. Quite a lot!
P.S. This is not Yanko but good if you are interested in 4k TVs . Hey, TVs are furniture. 🙂 Finally, this from the New York Times: Have You Seen This Table Lamp? If You Eat Out in New York You Will. It’s a cool lamp. Good for restos, but good for you too.
First up, this may be the only Leica camera most can afford, and then it is still around $1700: Leica D-Lux 7 Vans x Ray Barbee Camera.
To see what I mean, check out the Leica M-A Titan Camera… it costs around $20,000. And while that is extreme, it is closer to the median than the d-Lux 7.
Maybe you need this Pixy Selfie Drone to follow you around and take selfies all day. Your own paparazzi!
Or perhaps you just want a new webcam. This one, Opal C1 Webcam | Uncrate, will set you back around $300.
Thanks to Uncrate.com for all these. Still one of my favourite sites for all things cool and wonderful.
The smart folks at Teenage Engineering have produced another cool product. As Yanko Design explains….
The PO-80 Record Factory Kit is a record cutter that engraves audio onto 5″ vinyl discs, giving kids the ability to record their own LPs the old-fashioned way, quite like how millennials made mixtapes and burned their own CDs. The Record Factory, created in collaboration with Yuri Suzuki, lets you engrave and playback 5″ discs with an ultra-analog lo-fi sound. This isn’t studio-grade equipment, after all, but it does add a creamy muffled, effect to your audio that totally sounds like the 40s and 50s in a nutshell.
Love it! For more on the PO-80, see these write ups in Yanko Design and the Awesomer.com.
(Image link to Yanko Design)
Seriously, how cute is this??
The paper looks like rain! It’s awesome! Thank you, Muji!
For more on it, see: Muji cloud is a fun tool to condense paper into small pile of shreds – Yanko Design
As a result of the pandemic and CafeTO, many restaurants have put up these GRIPBlock reusable walls outside their establishments in the warmer months to draw in customers. It’s a good thing. Here’s one nearby in my neighborhood:
A good idea like that works indoors too. This Blokaloks modular system lets you build walls or even rooms inside, like this:
Smart. You can click on the link to see more designs. Would be perfect for lofts and other open concept spaces that need better definition.
If you are like me, your desk gets cluttered and disorganized at times. We all could use some help. To aid you, here are some nifty desk organizers to create the most efficient desk space for you from the good people at Yanko Design. Some of them are very practical, and some of them are very cool, like this:
All are worth a look.
The best way to organize your desk is to clear it off. The next best way is to get organizers that keep it tidy.
Comments Off on Want to be more organized next week? Start with your desk
Posted in work
Tagged decor, design, desk, organizing, productivity, work
While many of the furnishings of the 1970s should stay in that decade and never be revived, these shelves are an exception. As Designmilk.com explains, these shelves date
… back to the 70s, when Pierre Paulin was commissioned by President Pompidou to design furniture for the Elysée Palace’s private apartments, (but they were not) …. officially launched to the public until 2009 …
They make me think of the 70s, but they don’t scream it. They would work wonderfully with contemporary furniture today. Also highly expandable. Perfect for book collectors like myself.
For more on them, see: From a Palace to Your Home: The Elysée Shelving System.
If this shoe was coming out from anyone other than Nike, I would just straight-up praise it. It’s a practical shoe. It will likely wear well over the months and even years. If you are someone who likes to wear the same shoe all the time (e.g. Birkenstocks or Blundstones) then these could be perfect for you.
Coming from Nike, though, which is famous/notorious for making rare and high priced shoes intentionally, the fact that they make these and portray these shoes as typical of them is …well, something.
To step back, Nike does make shoes for different markets. The Pegasus brand and the Air Force 1 lines are for mass markets, just like these are. Just like the Jordan brands and other high end lines are for different markets. It’s all just capitalism: they have a model for whatever you value and whatever your values are. For more on the these shoes, check out Uncrate and Yanko Design.
That’s what I was thinking when I read these two pieces:
IKEA, for a large part, is DIY furniture. But for many reasons, there is a limited range of furniture pieces to choose from. I wish there were better alternatives to them that offered more thoughtful pieces, like the ones found in those Yanko Design articles.
Anyway, it’s likely not going to happen soon. But I think there is a market for it. We just need the right business leaders to build it.
(Image from the first article.)
Sadly, only a design concept, but I wish these Braun wireless earbuds were a real thing. I’m a big fan of Braun, and while I like my earbuds from Apple, if time came to switch, I’d love something like this to be for sale.
Let’s make it happen, Braun! (It likely won’t happen in such a competitive space, but I can dream. )
If you’re like me, your work desk could use an upgrade. Maybe it’s too cluttered. Maybe your tech is looking a bit shabby. Either way, I recommend you go see these top 10 desk accessories to level up your work from home productivity over at Yanko Design. For example, the organizer above is a nice way to get things off your desk.
And this keyboard below looks like it would be an improvement on the one you currently have:
Hey, new stuff isn’t everything, but it could be just the thing to make you a bit more productive and happier when you sit down at your desk to work.
In 2013, Google gave the world Google Glass. While their high tech glasses seemed cool at first, eventually it was revealed to be terrible technology, and people sporting it became known as “glassholes”. Not good.
Google did not give up, though, and have unveiled a new version of there glasses. at their recent annual convention on all things Google:
After announcing a whole new catalog of products, including the Pixel 6A, Pixel 7 and 7 Pro, Pixel Buds Pro, Pixel Tablet, and Pixel Watch, Google gave us a taste of an AR Glasses prototype they’ve been working on (labeled Proto 29) that combines natural language processing and transcription to provide subtitles to the real world. Wear the glasses and, in theory, you can understand any language. The glasses pick up audio and visual cues, translating them into text that gets displayed on your lens, right in your line of vision. These virtual subtitles overlay on your vision of the world, providing a contextual, USEFUL augmented reality experience that’s leaps and bounds ahead of what the Google Glass was designed to do in 2013.
I know, they’re still a prototype. But it’s exciting to think about! I could see how they could even show you a potential response, just like they do when you use Gmail and they suggest potential responses. Quite an amazing tool for those who travel to places with different languages.
Among other things, this shows that tech still has ways to be innovative and useful in ways we haven’t even thought of. Good job, Google, for not giving up on this technology. Looking forward to the day when these go from prototypes to the real thing.
I love all three of these pieces of furniture. First there is this table that also functions as a bookshelf:
Then there is this table /desk that has tons of storage:
A few years ago when I was making furniture, I made something similar. I could definitely see someone good at DIY/carpentry making the above two. As for this one below, I love that desk but it’s not for your typical DIYer! Fabulous though:
They remind me of the old telephone tables people used to have. They used to have a particular function, and they had special storage as part of them.
All three links lead to Yanko Design, where you can find out more about each of them. Worth a look.
Yep, it’s time for another — likely my last — edition of cat furniture links. It’s been a weird fixation of mine. I blame Yanko design, which keeps posting these links: they are like cat nip for me. So here’s some more cat furniture to check out.
It’s not all goofy stuff for spoiled felines. For example this post has good design aimed for your pets, like this wheelchair for dogs:
The again, there is this dryer/sauna for cats….I dunno: 
Still more cat stuff.
There is also this, so you can be like your pet. Sheesh
Finally, there is this dog leash + smart tag design tracks your pet’s emotions to help you communicate better.
Ok, that’s enough of all that. Enjoy!
I know I feel that way after looking at some of these babies. For example, this could be uncomfortable, but just look at how great this modular ebike looks!
For something a bit more practical, there’s this cool café racer bike:
Very nice!
If you want something bigger, there’s this 2022 Harley:
Too big? How about this little number via Justin Bieber no less:
But wait, maybe you agree with this piece on bike road safety that laments how dangerous riding a bike is in the city? In that case, maybe you just want something like this exercise bike:
The weather is getting nicer. Get yourself a bike and get out there.
(Images courtesy of Uncrate and Yanko Design)
Comments Off on It’s Friday. Don’t you wish you were out on the road on a cool bike?
Tagged bicycles, bikes, cool, design, motorcycle, uncrate, Yanko, yankodesign
If you are in the market for luggage, I recommend you consider this sturdy luggage that morphs into an attractive trolley for dual functionality when not traveling.
It’s great for several reasons besides the obvious:
Lots of reasons to make this your next piece of luggage.
How cool is that? A synthesizer that steals design elements from Nintendo. Brilliant! More on it, here: Love Hulten NES-SY37 Synthesizer | Uncrate.
Comments Off on For the musician/gamer in your life: NES-SY37 Synthesizer
Tagged cool, design, instruments, music, synthesizer, uncrate
There are topics on this blog I write about frequently because they are near and dear to my heart. And then there is this topic: crazy cat furniture. I just find it fascinating how designers go to great lengths to design furniture for their cats. For example, most cats would be happy with any old cardboard box, but this designer took that a step further and made this cardboard cat house (see above).
Then there’s this minimal wooden cat scratcher that doubles up as a cozy chilling spot for your pets! My belief is that the only way the cat will settle in any given spot is either a) it’s warm b) to annoy the dog you have.
Finally there’s this!
Yes, a wall mountable cat bed that gives your cat a place to lounge up high while saving you space. They even put shelves on the wall to make it easier for the cat to get there!
Ok, that’s it for me. For now. 🙂
(P.S. All images and posts from Yanko Design, the good people who keep me stocked with all these ideas to post. )
This tiny black cabin you see above is built from felled oak trees acquired from a home’s construction waste. The company responsible, Studio Padron, did a fantastic job of recycling, take all this waste wood and making a glorious living space.
Looks great inside too
For more, go to the Yanko Design link above and check it out.
And to me he is doing it with these two machines: the CutiePi tablet above, and the Penkesu Computer below…
I think both of these machines are fabulous. I love the different designs of both of them. The handle for the CutiePi is great: you can carry it and then use it to stand up the computer. As for the Penkesu, I love how it reminds me of the old netbooks I used to love.
Well done, Penk Chen and team. For more on the bottom device, see: The Penkesu is a DIY retro handheld PC with a mechanical keyboard – The Verge.
P.S. Hat tip to Clive Thompson for pointing this out.
Comments Off on Penk Chen is making computers cool again
Posted in IT
Tagged computers, design, handheldcomputers, IT, raspberrypi, tablets
Well, if you are Kevin Basset, you get this: Kevin Basset | kevin.tw
I can’t remember the last time I was so charmed by someone’s site.
Well done, Kyra. Well done, Kevin.
Philippe Starck has been tied to my life since I was a young man in the 80s, staying at his hotels and buying what i could afford of his. Chances are you have sat in some of his chairs or seen his hotels and didn’t even know it.
He and I parted ways some time ago: my hotel staying days died down and I settled for more modest chairs. I would occasionally wonder what he was up to.
Turns out he is still making great things. Case in point, those wooden armchairs that fit together brilliantly. The chairs are…
…The first collaboration between designer Philippe Starck and Spanish furnishings manufacturer Andreu World … Their Adela Rex walnut and oak plywood armchairs are made from three molded shapes that fit together without hardware. (Take that, IKEA.) Part of World’s 100% pure wood project, the chairs are FSC Certified.
Beautiful. Perhaps one day I’ll have a chance to relax in one.
P.S. I am happy to say that not only is his career continuing, but so is his web site. It used to be a bit of a disaster from a UX perspective, but it seems to have improved. Here’s a link to part of it: Royalton hotel, New York. That hotel, like many he designed in the 80s, no longer sports his designs. But at the time it was a dream to visit and stay in.
Pop over and take a look. Perhaps the next hotel you stay in will be one of his.
P.S.S. More things on this blog about Starck, here.
How smart are they? These winter-clothes are so advanced, they come with their own temperature-adjusting thermostat!
Pretty smart! Now they may be more than most people want, but for people who *hate* being cold, these could be just the thing they are looking for.
Comments Off on (Very) smart socks (and gloves) for winter!
Posted in design
Tagged clothing, design, winter, yankodesign
On twitter the other day I had a brief discussion about the good and bad aspects of the TTC’s interiors. This got me thinking, and led me to this site and post on it: juliekinnear.com. I really encourage you to click that link to see a good photoessay on all the beauty of the TTC’s stations. Here are two images from that post, but there are many. The TTC doesn’t have anything like the Oculus in Manhattan, but it has many beautiful spots of it’s own. You can see them in person, or do the next best thing and read that piece by Julie Kinnear.
I love this! Not only can you charge your Apple Watch easily, but you can also use this device to easily see the time and your alarm. Brilliant. More on it, here:
Nightwatch Magnifying Clock Dock.
If you are still working at this date, you are either working desperately to finish or you are killing time until the end. If you are the latter, these are for you:
(Images of this cool bike from Yanko)
Comments Off on Nine great design/decor links to kill some time with :)
Tagged decor, design, smallspaces, storage, Yanko, yankodesign
Nope, that’s not a piece of sculpture: it’s a fridge. Yep! It’s meant to go underground, not unlike a root cellar. It’s part of the various zero waste product designs found here: A sustainable underground fridge + more product designs to help you lead that zero waste lifestyle! – Yanko Design
There’s some really interesting designs there worthy reviewing. Some of them smaller than the fridge above. 🙂
I love lamps and lighting. I have been known to have too many lamps in a room just because I can’t decide on one. If you are the opposite and in need of some lighting inspiration, I recommend this: Bring your home to life with these minimal 3D-printed Gantri lighting designs! – Yanko Design. That piece features quite a few different lights, including the one above. Simple and beautiful.
You may not be able to find these specific lamps, but they may lead you to some you might, be they at IKEA or some high end lighting place.
Last week there was much discussion about a dorm being sponsored by Charlie Munger for UCSB, which resulted in resignations among other things. Here is an example of the floor plan:
The big point of contention was the lack of windows for the bedrooms. Munger, who has been dictating the design, said it was more important that students have their own room than windows. I agree that having your own room is very important. My son is attending my alma mater and unlike me he has his own room in his first year and I applaud this. But he also has a window. It doesn’t have to be an either / or situation. We need both.
I’ve been thinking about this situation and I think in some ways many people who talk about urban housing have all become like Charlie Munger. In discussions they have, the living space of people living in cities gets smaller and smaller. Sure there are windows, but they are little windows looking out on little else. They are nothing like this:
And why is that? It’s because we assume we cannot afford it. Capitalism says people cannot live this way. Environmentalists often support that, saying dense cities with dense buildings are greener than suburbs or single dwellings.
Most of us, me included, assume that has to be the way it is. We don’t ask ourselves is that a good way for us to live constantly I think that is key. I love living in cities for the most part, but I think we all need to get away from them and have a good place to get away to.
Vacation and holiday have had their meaning diluted over time. Many would consider a retreat something we do because of a breakdown in our lives. I think we need to reconsider this. From time to time we need to vacate our current environment. We need to have holidays where we celebrate our spirituality and our connection to a greater purpose. We need to retreat from the day to day and restore ourselves.
I love where I live, but I would love to be able to go to this place from time to time. To vacate my current life and retreat to this place and celebrate a holiday.
Is it affordable? Well, there is a cost each of us bears for living in small spaces right up against each other all the time. The pandemic is just one of many costs that have resulted in this. But we suffer the cost in other ways in terms of mental health and much more. We need to revisit these costs and determine a better way to understand what we can afford. We need to live better. We need our space and our windows.
For more on the cabin shown here, see this: This prefabricated cabin is a holiday retreat that balances a rustic personality with modern details! – Yanko Design
Comments Off on On capitalism, environmentalism and architecture, and the need to vacate, retreat and celebrate holidays
Posted in ideas
Tagged architecture, design, essays, ideas, yankodesign
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Smart People I Know 
